WA police chief warns of more job cuts

WA Police is facing hundreds of jobs cuts in coming years with commissioner Chris Dawson warning he will have to thin his ranks on top of the state government's voluntary redundancy process.

The cuts won't involve sworn police and will involve non-sworn public servants but officers will then have to fill those backroom roles.

"For future outlying years, on present forecasts to meet budget, we will have to look at a reduction of police staff members to meet that budget," Mr Dawson told the WA Police Union annual conference on Monday.

"I will not be able to meet the projected forecasts with savings just from equipment and lease costs.

"What it will mean is ... police officers may have to do some roles presently done by police staff."

Those cuts are on top of WA Police's contribution to 3000 voluntary redundancies across the public sector to be completed by March but Police Minister Michelle Roberts says the force will only contribute about 100.

Mr Dawson said ideally officers would be only exercising their sworn powers but sworn staff had always done "back of house" jobs that were still critical and he had to work "within a finite budget".

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The budgetary pressures affecting WA Police are part of McGowan government's budget repair reforms, involving cutting public sector costs by $1.7 billion over four years.

It is a tense time within the force, with the union and government in a lengthy and sometimes bitter pay dispute that involved escalating industrial action until Mr Dawson used special powers to order people back to work.

Mr Dawson says he received the results of a consultants' "review" last Friday that sought the views of sworn members on their ability to do their job well and the results were "confronting" and "not an easy read".

He insisted morale was still high.

Ms Roberts revealed details about a new pay offer to police.

It does not involve an increase on the flat $1000-a-year rise or union's demand for a 38-hour week but there were higher duties allowances, including for dog handlers and cashing out annual leave.

Union president George Tilbury said the offer would be put to members before Christmas, progress given the union has rejected previous offers and accused the government of breaking its pre-election promise of a 1.5 per cent pay hike.